Mexico softball hung around Friday and Saturday in the Sullivan Back to School Tournament.

Four of the Lady Bulldogs games were against Class 4 teams, which took them to the seventh-place game Saturday against Windsor. After surrendering the lead in the top of the fifth inning, senior Lexie Willer drew the third walk of the bottom half of the inning to bring home the winning run.

Mexico finished the weekend 3-2 after losing 5-2 to Helias, winning 13-2 against Webster Groves and edging Pacific 6-5 in pool play on Friday and then dropping a 6-1 decision to Capital City in its first game of bracket play — and fourth straight Class 4 team matchup — on Saturday before capping the weekend with a 7-6 victory against Windsor.

Senior Abby Bellamy drove in five RBI to lead the team through the five games with a home run, Willer added four RBI, and senior Kierstan Epperson and freshman Hannah Loyd each had three runs driven in. Loyd hit two home runs on Friday to begin her high school career along with three runners caught stealing from behind the plate.

Mexico started its first game Friday with a 2-0 first-inning lead against perennial 20-win Helias and carried a 2-1 advantage until a four-run third inning by the Lady Crusaders. The Lady Bulldogs committed three of their five errors in the inning, translating to four unearned runs allowed by senior Eboni Mayfield — eight hits in four innings. Willer and junior Karlee Sefrit had the two hits for Mexico.

In Game 2 against Webster Groves, the offense shined for the first time with 12 hits and every Lady Bulldog reaching base via hit. Bellamy drove in the first run in the first inning before being one of four to bring home another in a six-run third inning for the Lady Bulldogs. Mexico already had an 11-2 lead in the fourth inning when Loyd hit her first home run of the day. Junior Shelby Shramek allowed five hits and one earned run in three innings.

The Lady Bulldogs needed a comeback in the third game against Pacific after falling behind 5-3 in the third inning. Mexico had seven errors during the game but picked up half of its eight hits to begin the fourth inning, with Loyd tying the game with a home run to center field and junior Jordyn Thurman driving in the winning run with a single for her second RBI of the game. Junior Emma Cunningham earned the win with her three innings of seven-hit ball and five runs (one earned) allowed.

Mexico advanced to the second day in the fifth-place bracket with Capital City, Hillsboro and Windsor. The Lady Bulldogs had a reigning 24-win Capital City in the first game, which snowballed for them in the second inning after committing four of their five errors to allow five runs in the frame. Thurman had two of Mexico’s four hits, scoring its lone run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Mayfield allowed five hits and six runs (all unearned) in four innings.

For seventh-place, Windsor jumped ahead 3-1 after one inning before Bellamy tied the game with a homer to lead off the third inning. Willer gave Mexico the 6-3 lead with a two-out double before Windsor answered with a game-tying single in the fifth inning. In the bottom half of the inning, the first three Lady Bulldogs reached base to precede Willer taking a 3-2 pitch out of the zone for the win for her third RBI of the game.

Mexico opened its North Central Missouri Conference schedule Tuesday at Marshall prior to the home opener at 5 p.m. today against Bowling Green (2-2).

Volleyball

Mexico's mental mistakes lead to straight sets home loss to Fulton

Mexico volleyball was physically on Gary Filbert Court on Monday to face conference rival Fulton.

Mentally, the Lady Bulldogs trailed Fulton most of the night to lose in straight sets — 25-11, 25-19 and 25-14 — and drop their North Central Missouri Conference opener.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Stephens and freshman middle blocker Jaclynn Cline each had five kills to lead the team, senior libero Tessa Haefling had a team-high 14 digs followed by Stephens’ 11 digs, and senior setter Ally Wilson led with eight assists.

Head coach Mendie Tutt said it was clear from the first set, when Fulton took a lead as large as 23-9, that the Lady Bulldogs weren’t in a satisfactory mental state.

“The first set is always slow,” Tutt said. “We’re going to look into some external mental programs that we can get everybody to listen to see and make sure we’re on the same page.”

Tutt admitted making sure the girls have the confidence to attack the first set is difficult but will help in avoiding Monday’s start.

Oftentimes, especially in the first frame, Fulton was hitting it over the net, and Mexico was struggling with its receiving to the point the ball would fly into out-of-bounds territory. The Lady Hornets also picked up three service aces and eventually had more than 10 aces in the match.

Tutt said it is a concept of “what’s next?” or what the player is going to do with the ball next. That question seemed to not get answered quickly enough for much of Monday’s match.

“What ball’s coming next? Where do I put it next?” Tutt said. “Or (it could mean) moving on. You’ve got to forget about the bad and move on.”

Mexico was able to tie the second set at 10 after a timeout called by Tutt, which was designed to help the Lady Bulldogs regroup. She said she believes her team has the volleyball talent and knowledge to succeed, and the girls needed to be reminded of that.

“We know how to play,” Tutt said. “We have the skills all day long. It’s all mental. Sometimes we were out of position and not covering one (spot) more than the other.”

Fulton won six straight points after the 10-all tie before outlasting the Lady Bulldogs to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Wilson, who led the team with three service aces, helped give Mexico its largest lead of the match to begin the third set at 4-0. The Lady Hornets tied it at 5 before Mexico had its problems receiving the ball again to drop five straight points in the middle of the set and then six of the last seven to lose the match.

Down the stretch, Fulton was able to spike the ball through Mexico’s defenses with authority, which helped “fuel” the runs the Lady Hornets were able to make.

Mexico played at California on Tuesday before it hosts its second conference opponent of the week Kirksville on Thursday.

“We have to get ready for (the start of the match),” Tutt said. “They want to. I know they want to. We’ve talked about this all week.”